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Julia Paskin contributed to this story.
As of Friday, gyms and fitness outlets can now officially reopen in Los Angeles County with restrictions and many new regulations. But working out isn’t going to be the same for a while.
Silverlake pilates studio, Avenir LA, wil reopen on Monday. Owner Kate Andrews reconfigured the studio so that each student is six feet or more apart. The studio will also re-start with a reduced class schedule to make time for sanitizing pilates machines.
Andrews told KPCC/LAist that per the new regulations, class attendees will be required to line up outside, six-feet apart, and wait for an instructor to open the doors. Studio members “will be getting an email [explaining] that our bathroom, our lobby space, and our water dispenser will be temporarily unavailable,” Andrews said.
Since gyms were forced to close in mid-March, Avenir has been running free classes via Instagram Live five days a week to keep their community engaged.
Andrews recently polled her clients on Instagram to gauge how many of them would want to resume in-person workouts. She found about 50 percent were eager to return, while the other half was hesitant.
A few blocks from Avenir, on Hyperion Avenue, owner Adrienne DiMatteo has been figuring out the logistics of reopening her spin and yoga studio, Hype Silverlake.
She decided to convert the studio’s parking lot into an outdoor gym, with bikes placed 8-to-12 feet apart. Because the virus can spead more easily inside, the indoor spin, yoga and HIIT classes will require guests to stay 8-to-15 feet away from each other. So Hype will now be running ourdoor, indoor and virtual classes, for those who’d rather workout at home.
In Hype’s Instagram opening announcement, DiMatteo wrote she doesn’t think the state’s guidelines on healthy and safety go far enough.
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“This has been pretty challenging,” DiMatteo said. “We know the coronavirus can travel six feet, but if there’s more exertion it might be a little farther, so in my mind that means more than six feet,” she told LAist. “Far be it for me to say six feet isn’t far enough. It’s more to make me feel comfortable coming to the studio. So hopefully it works for other people as well.”
Figuring all this out was not an easy task, even though DiMatteo says she’s already a self-proclaimed germaphobe: “Sincerely, it’s like the organizing principle in my life.”
DiMatteo says for most small independent fitness studios, there’s no question about whether or not to reopen. It’s a necessity. She hasn’t had an income for three months, she says, so staying closed isn’t really an option if she wants to keep her business alive.
“If you have guarantee on that loan, it’s not really up to you,” she said. Hype did receive a PPP loan as part of the CARES Act, but DiMatteo says it’s not enough, especially when all of her employees are part-time.
“It’s hard to lose your income and then continue to owe that debt every month,” DiMatteo said. Even with the online classes the studio is running, she said, “We’ve been losing money.” The studio used to make around $100,000 per month, before expenses such as rent and salaries. Now, DiMatteo says, they’re losing about $800 a month.
She said a lot of other studio owners are still waiting for equipment and supplies, including bulk hand sanitizer and masks, “and in Covid world, that could be June or July.”
Other spin studios opening on the Eastside include Radio Cycling in East Hollywood, which is conducting personal training-style classes for those who are worried about social distancing. RevCycle in Eagle Rock is also putting space between their bikes and considering running outdoor classes.
Bigger gym chains such as L.A. Fitness opened on Friday as soon as state retrictions were lifted. Regulations include pre-workout temperature screenings, staggered lockers, face coverings and closures of saunas and water fountains.